Theft prevention package containers

ABSTRACT

A theft prevention package container having a package chute positioned in a top surface thereof and a slot positioned on a back surface thereof to receive a lower end of a garage door so as to hold the package container in a position where it is locked in place by the garage door.

REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATIONS

The subject application claims the benefit of and priority to U.S.Provisional Patent Application Ser. No. 62/733,768, filed Sep. 20, 2018,the contents of which application is incorporated by reference herein inits entirety.

BACKGROUND Field of the Invention

The subject invention relates to prevention of theft of packages whichare typically left on a doorstep by various package delivery services.

Description of Related Art

Conventionally, delivery services place packages on a front door step ofa residence where they are subject to being stolen. With the advent ofon-line sales and delivery of purchased items to the home, the packagetheft problem has increased significantly

SUMMARY

According to an illustrative embodiment, a theft prevention packagecontainer is provided having a package chute positioned in a top surfacethereof and a slot on a rear or back surface shaped and positioned toreceive a lower end of a garage door such that the garage door holds thecontainer in a position where it is locked in place by the garage door.

According to another aspect, a box-shaped package container is providedhaving a hollow package chute positioned in a top surface thereof, thepackage chute having an exterior opening configured to receive one ormore packages inserted therethrough and an interior opening configuredsuch that packages inserted into the exterior opening can drop into abin located in the interior of the package container. A retainer memberis attached to a back surface of the package container and has a slot atlower end thereof, the slot being of a shape selected to receive a lowerend of a door such that the door holds the package container in aposition where it is locked in place by the door.

In one illustrative embodiment, the slot is shaped to receive a garagedoor. In one illustrative embodiment, the slot is u-shaped incross-section. In one illustrative embodiment, the package chute isfurther shaped to prevent human access through the chute to packageswhich have been dropped into the container.

In another illustrative embodiment, the back surface of the packagecontainer includes first and second vertical slots formed therein, andthe retainer member is attached to the back surface of the packagecontainer by first and second fastening devices inserted respectivelythrough the first and second slots in the back surface. In oneembodiment, the first and second fastening devices are configured to bepositionable through a range of vertical positions in the first andsecond slots to thereby enable positioning of the retainer member in aselected one of a range of vertical positions. Further illustrativeembodiments are described below.

DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

FIG. 1 is a perspective view of a theft prevention package containeraccording to an illustrative embodiment;

FIG. 2 is a side sectional view of the apparatus of FIG. 1; and

FIG. 3 is a front view of the apparatus of FIG. 1.

FIG. 4 is a rear perspective view of an alternate embodiment;

FIG. 5 is a perspective view of the interior of the embodiment of FIG.4;

FIG. 6 is a perspective view of the bottom of the embodiment of FIG. 5;and

FIG. 7 is a perspective view of an alternate embodiment.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF ILLUSTRATIVE EMBODIMENTS

FIGS. 1-3 show an illustrative embodiment of a theft prevention packagecontainer according to an illustrative embodiment. The illustrativeembodiment employs a box-shaped container 13 having a package chute 15positioned in a top surface thereof. As shown in FIG. 2, the packagechute 15 has an exterior opening 19 through which packages may beinserted and an interior opening 21 through which packages can drop intoa bin 22 in the interior of the container 13. The container 13 furtherhas a package access door 23 hingedly mounted to a side 25 thereof viahinges 27. In one embodiment, a master lock 29 secures the door 23 in aclosed position. In another embodiment, an opening can be provided inthe back 35 of the container 13 so that no locks or hinges are required.Such an opening would be closed off by the garage or other door 41 shownin FIG. 2.

A slot 31 is formed at the rear of the container 13 by spacing avertical wall 33 apart from a rear vertical wall 35 of the container 13.In one embodiment, the vertical wall 33 includes a horizontal foot 37,which may be welded or otherwise attached to the vertical rear wall 35of the container 13 at a lower end thereof. In one embodiment, the rearwall 33 and horizontal foot 37 comprise a single piece unit. In such anembodiment, the container 13 may comprise rectangular metal plateswelded or otherwise fastened together.

In another embodiment, the vertical wall 33, horizontal foot 37, andbox-shaped container 13 are formed as a single piece unit, for example,by molding it from plastic. In one embodiment, the vertical wall 33 andvertical wall 35 are each rectangular in shape. In one embodiment, thewall 33 is a smaller rectangle than the wall 35, but that does not needto be the case.

In an illustrative embodiment, the width “W” (FIG. 2) of the slot 31 isselected to be sufficient to permit a garage or other door 41 to belowered into a closed position where the container 13 is held or lockedin position by the door 41. In this manner, a homeowner or other personleaving the house can position the container 13 beneath the garage door41 and then lower the garage door 41 to hold or lock the container 13 inposition, for example, between the bottom edge of the door 41 and thefloor 43 of a garage, thereby providing a safe and secure receptacle forpackages delivered by a delivery service or other source such as FedEx,UPS, US mail, Amazon or Amazon-drone, Walmart, etc.

As shown in FIG. 2, in one embodiment, the package chute 15 contains ahorizontal input tube portion 43, which forms into an angled elbowportion 45, which then forms into a downwardly or vertically orientedoutput tube 47. In one embodiment, the elbow 45 is angled to thehorizontal. In one embodiment, the chute 15 is formed as a single pieceunit of rectangular cross-section and is inserted through aconformingly-shaped rectangular opening in the top of the container 13and welded or otherwise fixed in place. The chute 15 and container 13are further configured such that a person cannot reach through the chute15 to attempt to remove packages or other items therefrom. Inillustrative embodiments, the size of the opening 19 in the chute 15 canvary, for example, in response to customer request.

In various embodiments, the container 13 can be constructed ofindestructible material such as, for example, an unbreakable plastic orcarbon fiber material. Security can be enhanced by molding chicken wireor similar material into the structure of the container 13 to make itresistant or impervious to saw cuts.

In another embodiment, a container can be constructed to fold flat byhinging together separate side panels of a container similar tocontainer 13. In one embodiment, use of a chute like chute 15 can beavoided by employing a slot in a soft elastic material such thatpackages may be inserted through the elastic slot but cannot be removedfrom the container thereafter.

An alternate embodiment of a theft prevention container is shown inFIGS. 4-6. As shown, a box-shaped container 51 is provided, which has asingle piece retainer member 53 attached to a back surface 55 of thecontainer 51. The retainer 53 may be formed of a single metal pieceappropriately bent to establish a u-shaped slot 57, which inillustrative embodiments may receive a garage door or other door to holdthe container 51 in place.

A vertical member 59 of the retainer member 53 is fastened to the back55 of the container by means of two bolts 61, 63, which ride inrespective slots 65, 67. As seen in FIG. 5, wing nuts 69, 71 thread onto the respective bolts 61, 63. Loosening the nuts 69, 71 allows thevertical position of the u-shaped slot 57 to be adjusted to facilitateinstallation of the container 51 in various situations.

Four casters 73 (FIG. 6) may be mounted to the bottom 75 of thecontainer 51 via fastening devices such as screws or bolts to enablerolling the container 51 into position, for example, on a drive way. Inone embodiment, the wheels of the casters are lockable once thecontainer 51 is in a desired position to prevent rolling or othermovement of the container 51.

In the embodiment of FIGS. 4-6, a lid 77 is mounted to the open top ofthe container by a suitable hinge 79. The lid 77 may be locked in placeby a pad lock inserted through openings in a latch member 81.

In another embodiment, a package chute similar to chute 15 of FIG. 2 maybe formed as part of, or attached to, a lid hingedly mounted to acontainer such as container 51. FIG. 7 illustrates such an embodimentwhere a package chute 91 is mounted to a lid 77. In one embodiment ofFIG. 7, the chute 91 is formed of sheet metal, is twenty (20) incheshigh, and has a square opening 93 which is nine (9) inches on a side.Other dimensions of course may be used in other embodiments, and thesize of the opening 93 may be selected to receive packages of aparticular size. In the embodiment of FIG. 7, a square lid 95 isattached to a back top edge 97 of the chute 91. The bottom edges ofrespective sides 99, 101 of the chute 91 are bent 90 degrees to formfeet 103, 105, which are each attached to the lid 77 by suitablefastening devices 107, for example, such as Allen head bolts or rivets.

In another embodiment, a free standing unit is provided that can beembedded in concrete or otherwise fixed in place in an open area toreceive package delivery by drones with pass codes to open a top lid fordelivery and thereafter close the lid. Such codes can be mutuallyestablished with Amazon or any other delivery service.

In various embodiments, containers can be configured to receive deliveryof packages by a drone or other flying device. In one such anembodiment, the container 13 may include a wireless transceiver whichcan communicate back and forth with a drone. In one embodiment, thechute 15 or other package receptacle can be closed by a lid which can beopened in response to a code transmitted to the transceiver by the droneand which thereafter closes to seal off the container 13. In oneembodiment, the drone may navigate to a residence using GPS and then mayuse WiFi to “home in” on the package container and to transmit the codewhich causes a motor driven access door of the container to open.

From the foregoing, those skilled in the art will appreciate thatvarious adaptations and modifications of the just described illustrativeembodiments can be configured without departing from the scope andspirit of the invention. Therefore, it is to be understood that, withinthe scope of the appended claims, the invention may be practiced otherthan as specifically described herein.

What is claimed is:
 1. Apparatus comprising: a box-shaped packagecontainer having a hollow package chute positioned on a top surfacethereof, the package chute having an exterior opening configured toreceive one or more packages inserted therethrough and an interioropening configured such that packages inserted into the exterior openingcan drop into a bin located in the interior of the package container;and a retainer member attached to a back surface of said packagecontainer and having a slot at lower end thereof, the slot being of ashape selected to receive a lower end of a door such that the door holdsthe package container in a position where it is locked in place by thedoor.
 2. The apparatus of claim 1 wherein said door comprises a garagedoor.
 3. The apparatus of claim 1 wherein the slot is u-shaped incross-section.
 4. The apparatus of claim 1 wherein the package chute isfurther configured to prevent human access through the chute to packagesin said container.
 5. The apparatus of claim 1 wherein the back surfaceincludes first and second vertical slots formed therein and wherein theretainer member is attached to the back surface by first and secondfastening devices inserted respectively through said first and secondslots.
 6. The apparatus of claim 5 wherein the first and secondfastening devices are configured to be positionable through a range ofvertical positions in said first and second slots to thereby enablepositioning of said u-shaped slot in a selected range of verticalpositions.
 7. The apparatus of claim 1 wherein the package container hasan access opening located in a side of the container to enable removalof packages.
 8. The apparatus of claim 7 wherein the access opening isin the side of the container and is closed by a hinged lockable door. 9.The apparatus of claim 7 wherein the access opening is located in therear vertical wall of the container and positioned to be closed off bythe garage door.
 10. The apparatus of claim 2 wherein the retainermember comprises a vertical wall spaced apart from the back surface ofthe container and attached to the container by a horizontal foot so asto define said slot, the slot being of a width selected to receive alower end of the garage door.
 11. Apparatus comprising: a box-shapedpackage container having a hollow package chute positioned in a topsurface thereof, the package chute having an exterior opening configuredto receive one or more packages inserted there through and an interioropening configured such that packages inserted into the exterior openingcan drop into a bin located in the interior of the package container; anaccess opening located in a side of the container to enable removal ofpackages; a vertical wall spaced apart from a rear vertical wall of thecontainer and attached to the container by a horizontal foot so as todefine a slot, the slot being of a width selected to receive a lower endof a garage door so as to hold the container in a position where it islocked in place by the garage door.
 12. The apparatus of claim 11wherein the access opening is in the side of the container and is closedby a hinged lockable door.
 13. The apparatus of claim 12 wherein theaccess opening is located in the rear vertical wall of the container andpositioned to be closed off by the garage door.
 14. The apparatus ofclaim 12 wherein the package chute is further configured to preventhuman access through the chute to packages in said container.
 15. Atheft preventive apparatus comprising: a package container having a backsurface; and a retainer member attached to the back surface of saidpackage container and having a slot at lower end thereof, the slot beingof a shape selected to receive a lower end of a door such that the doorholds the package container in a position where it is locked in place bythe door.
 16. The apparatus of claim 15 wherein the slot is shaped toreceive the lower end of a garage door.
 17. A theft preventive apparatuscomprising: a package container having a back surface; and a slotlocated on the back surface of said package container and having a slot,the slot being of a shape selected to receive a lower end of a door suchthat the door holds the package container in a position where it islocked in place by the door.
 18. The apparatus of claim 17 wherein theslot is shaped to receive the lower end of a garage door.